"Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters" by Elizabeth Brown Pryor, published by Viking, New York, 2007 First Edition, First printing, inscribed, signed and dated by the author on the title page.

Dust jacket with un-clipped price on the front flap, hard boards with gold lettering on spine, 6.1/2" x 9.1/2"; former owner bookplate on the front endpaper, 658 pages including Index, very good/ fine condition.

"I liked Reading the Man very much and would recommend it to anyone interested in the Civil War era. Pryor focusses on the character of Lee, not on the war itself. She uses previously unpublished letters, most of them written by Lee, as the basis of her presentation of a complex human being who lived through extraordinary and tumultuous times. She begins each chapter with the full text of two or three letters, which she then places in the context of the issues facing Lee, his family, and his country. The Robert E. Lee who emerges from this book is a real person, whose life was filled with joys and sorrows, accomplishments and frustrations, admirable traits, and serious flaws. Pryor’s research is extensive and her documentation thorough. I learned a great deal from this well written and enjoyable book." [a private review]

"I grew up in an Alabama that celebrated Confederate Memorial Day in May and Lee’s birthday in January and where children were taught to idealize Lee as the perfect hero. I now live in an Alabama bitterly divided over the issue of what to do with Confederate monuments, including the many statues of Lee on his horse that are in front of courthouses around the state. Elsewhere in the country, Lee is seen in other ways, different but equally one-dimensional. Pryor gives us a realistic, balanced view of a man of many facets, a view much needed if we are to really understand this man and his significance." [a private review]

Elizabeth Brown Pryor (1951-2015) combined careers as an award-winning historian and a senior diplomat in the American Foreign Service. She was the author of the biography Clara Barton: Professional Angel, considered the authoritative work on the founder of the American Red Cross, and Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters, which won the 2008 Lincoln Prize, the 2007 Jefferson Davis Award, the 2008 Richard B. Harwell Book Award, and the 2007 Richard S. Slatten Award for Excellence in Virginia Biography. Her final book, Six Encounters With Lincoln: A President Confronts Democracy and Its Demons, was published posthumously in February 2017.

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) ------------ $12.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) ----- $32.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ------ $45.50